How Your Hardware ID Works with Carbonite Installer

• This article is for Windows only

When you deploy Carbonite to your network through the MSI file, it makes a note of the hardware on the computer should you need to re-deploy Carbonite again through the MSI. If you don't change the hardware and re-deploy Carbonite on your network through the MSI file you will have no problem at all.

What happens if I change a piece of hardware on my machine?

If you change a piece of hardware, Carbonite will continue to run like normal and keep your files backed up and safe. However, when you re-deploy using the MSI file, one of two scenarios can happen:

• Adds a new computer to the account - In this instance when the install runs it sees that there is no Hardware ID which matches with what's on your account. Carbonite will create a new computer on your account and begin backing up your files. This will potentially cause the same computer to appear twice on your account. If you wish to continue with your previous backup, you can reinstall Carbonite Safe Backup Pro manually through your account.
• Reinstalls and associates with a computer on your account - In this scenario when the install runs it will see that there is a Hardware ID on your account which matches what is on the computer. Carbonite will reinstall Carbonite and associate it with that computer. If it's the same computer as before, then you can continue to use Carbonite without any issues. However, there is a possibility that it could see that the Hardware ID matches a Hardware ID of another computer you are backing up on your account. In this case it will install that backup onto this computer. If this happens, you will need to uninstall Carbonite and manually reinstall Carbonite Safe Backup Pro through your account.